Stuart J. Masson, Igor Ferrier-Barbut, Luis A. Orozco, Antoine Browaeys, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
Aug 18, 2020·quant-ph·PDF Fully inverted atoms placed at exactly the same location synchronize as they deexcite, and light is emitted in a burst (known as "Dicke's superradiance"). We investigate the role of finite interatomic separation on correlated decay in mesoscopic chains, and provide an understanding in terms of collective jump operators. We show that the superradiant burst survives at small distances, despite Hamiltonian dipole-dipole interactions. However, for larger separations, competition between different jump operators leads to dephasing, suppressing superradiance. Collective effects are still significant for arrays with lattice constants of the order of a wavelength, and lead to a photon emission rate that decays nonexponentially in time. We calculate the two-photon correlation function and demonstrate that emission is correlated and directional, as well as sensitive to small changes in the interatomic distance. These features can be measured in current experimental setups, and are robust to realistic imperfections.
Mohammad Mirhosseini, Eunjong Kim, Xueyue Zhang, Alp Sipahigil, Paul B. Dieterle, Andrew J. Keller, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Darrick E. Chang, Oskar Painter
Sep 25, 2018·quant-ph·PDF Waveguide quantum electrodynamics studies photon-mediated interactions of quantum emitters in a one-dimensional radiation channel. Although signatures of such interactions have been observed previously in a variety of physical systems, observation of coherent cooperative dynamics has been obscured by radiative decay of atoms into the waveguide. Employing transmon qubits as artificial atoms coupled to a microwave coplanar waveguide, here we observe dynamical oscillations in an open system where a designated probe qubit interacts with an entangled dark state of an array of qubits which effectively traps radiation as an atomic cavity. The qubit-cavity system is shown to achieve a large cooperativity of $\mathcal{C}=172$ due to collective enhancement of photon-mediated interactions, entering the strong coupling regime. The quantum coherence of the dark state cavity is also explored through its nonlinear response at the single-excitation level. With realistic refinements, this system is suitable for studying the many-body dynamics of large ($N>10$) quantum spin chains, synthesizing highly non-classical radiation fields on demand, and implementing universal quantum logic operations with high fidelity on information encoded within decoherence-free subspaces.
Nikos Fayard, Loïc Henriet, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Darrick Chang
At the quantum many-body level, atom-light interfaces generally remain challenging to solve for or understand in a non-perturbative fashion. Here, we consider a waveguide quantum electrodynamics model, where two-level atoms interact with and via propagating photons in a one-dimensional waveguide, and specifically investigate the interplay of atomic position disorder, multiple scattering of light, quantum nonlinear interactions and dissipation. We develop qualitative arguments and present numerical evidence that such a system exhibits a many-body localized~(MBL) phase, provided that atoms are less than half excited. Interestingly, while MBL is usually formulated with respect to closed systems, this system is intrinsically open. However, as dissipation originates from transport of energy to the system boundaries and the subsequent radiative loss, the lack of transport in the MBL phase makes the waveguide QED system look essentially closed and makes applicable the notions of MBL. Conversely, we show that if the system is initially in a delocalized phase due to a large excitation density, rapid initial dissipation can leave the system unable to efficiently transport energy at later times, resulting in a dynamical transition to an MBL phase. These phenomena can be feasibly realized in state-of-the-art experimental setups.
Stuart J Masson, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
Dec 12, 2019·quant-ph·PDF Atom arrays are a new type of quantum light-matter interface. Here, we propose to employ one-dimensional ordered arrays as atomic waveguides. These arrays support optical guided modes that do not decay into free space. We show that these modes can be harnessed to mediate tunable, long-range interactions between additional "impurity qubits" coupled to the chain, without need for photonic structures. The efficient coupling between qubits and atomic waveguides enables the realization of tunable qubit-qubit interactions, which can be short- or long-range, dissipative or coherent, as well as chiral. Moreover, owing to the two-level nature of atoms, these waveguides are intrinsically quantum. In contrast to classical waveguides, where photons do not interact with each other, atomic waveguides display strong non-linearities, which create a tunable dissipative channel for qubit-qubit interactions, and opens the door to the exploration of many-body physics between guided photons. This physics is universal as it only relies on photon interference and can also be observed with other types of quantum emitters, such as those in molecular or solid-state systems.
Ewan Munro, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Yiheng Lin, Leong Chuan Kwek, Cindy A. Regal, Darrick E. Chang
We examine theoretically how dipole-dipole interactions arising from multiple photon scattering lead to a modified distribution of ground state populations in a driven, ordered 1D array of multilevel atoms. Specifically, we devise a level configuration in which a ground-state population accumulated due solely to dipole-dipole interactions can be up to 20\% in regimes accessible to current experiments with neutral atom arrays. For much larger systems, the steady state can consist of an equal distribution of population across the ground state manifold. Our results illustrate how dipole-dipole interactions can be accentuated through interference, and regulated by the geometry of ordered atom arrays. More generally, control techniques for multilevel atoms that can be degraded by multiple scattering, such as optical pumping, will benefit from an improved understanding and control of dipole-dipole interactions available in ordered arrays.
Kaiyuan Yao, Nathan R. Finney, Jin Zhang, Samuel L. Moore, Lede Xian, Nicolas Tancogne-Dejean, Fang Liu, Jenny Ardelean, Xinyi Xu, Dorri Halbertal, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, Hector Ochoa, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Xiaoyang Zhu, D. N. Basov, Angel Rubio, Cory R. Dean, James Hone, P. James Schuck
Broken symmetries induce strong nonlinear optical responses in materials and at interfaces. Twist angle can give complete control over the presence or lack of inversion symmetry at a crystal interface, and is thus an appealing knob for tuning nonlinear optical systems. In contrast to conventional nonlinear crystals with rigid lattices, the weak interlayer coupling in van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures allows for arbitrary selection of twist angle, making nanomechanical manipulation of fundamental interfacial symmetry possible within a single device. Here we report highly tunable second harmonic generation (SHG) from nanomechanically rotatable stacks of bulk hexagonal boron nitride (BN) crystals, and introduce the term twistoptics to describe studies of optical properties in dynamically twistable vdW systems. We observe SHG intensity modulated by a factor of more than 50, polarization patterns determined by moiré interface symmetry, and enhanced conversion efficiency for bulk crystals by stacking multiple pieces of BN joined by symmetry-broken interfaces. Our study provides a foundation for compact twistoptics architectures aimed at efficient, scalable, and tunable frequency-conversion, and demonstrates SHG as a robust probe of buried vdW interfaces.
Andreas Albrecht, Loïc Henriet, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Paul B. Dieterle, Oskar Painter, Darrick E. Chang
The properties of coupled emitters can differ dramatically from those of their individual constituents. Canonical examples include sub- and super-radiance, wherein the decay rate of a collective excitation is reduced or enhanced due to correlated interactions with the environment. Here, we systematically study the properties of collective excitations for regularly spaced arrays of quantum emitters coupled to a one-dimensional (1D) waveguide. We find that, for low excitation numbers, the modal properties are well-characterized by spin waves with a definite wavevector. Moreover, the decay rate of the most subradiant modes obeys a universal scaling with a cubic suppression in the number of emitters. Multi-excitation subradiant eigenstates can be built from fermionic combinations of single excitation eigenstates; such "fermionization" results in multiple excitations that spatially repel one another. We put forward a method to efficiently create and measure such subradiant states, which can be realized with superconducting qubits. These measurement protocols probe both real-space correlations (using on-site dispersive readout) and temporal correlations in the emitted field (using photon correlation techniques).
Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Alejandro Manjavacas, F. Javier García de Abajo
Apr 27, 2011·quant-ph·PDF The rotational dynamics of particles subject to external illumination is found to produce light amplification and inelastic scattering at high rotation velocities. Light emission at frequencies shifted with respect to the incident light by twice the rotation frequency dominates over elastic scattering within a wide range of light and rotation frequencies. Remarkably, net amplification of the incident light is produced in this classical linear system via stimulated emission. Large optically-induced acceleration rates are predicted in vacuum accompanied by moderate heating of the particle, thus supporting the possibility of observing these effects under extreme rotation conditions.
Wai-Keong Mok, Avishi Poddar, Eric Sierra, Cosimo C. Rusconi, John Preskill, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
Quantum systems are open, continually exchanging energy and information with the surrounding environment. This interaction leads to decoherence and decay of quantum states. In complex systems, formed by many particles, decay can become correlated and enhanced. A fundamental question then arises: what is the maximal decay rate of a large quantum system, and how does it scale with its size? In this work, we address these issues by reformulating the problem into finding the ground state energy of a generic spin Hamiltonian. Inspired by recent work in Hamiltonian complexity theory, we establish rigorous and general upper and lower bounds on the maximal decay rate. These bounds are universal, as they hold for a broad class of Markovian many-body quantum systems. For many physically-relevant systems, the bounds are asymptotically tight, resulting in exact scaling laws with system size. Specifically, for large atomic arrays in free space, these scalings depend only on the arrays' dimensionality and are insensitive to details at short length-scales. The scaling laws set fundamental limits on the decay rates of all quantum states, shed light on the behavior of generic driven-dissipative systems, and may ultimately constrain the scalability of quantum processors and simulators based on atom arrays.
Stuart J. Masson, Jacob P. Covey, Sebastian Will, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
Mar 31, 2023·quant-ph·PDF In inverted atomic ensembles, photon-mediated interactions give rise to Dicke superradiance, a form of many-body decay that results in a rapid release of energy as a photon burst. While originally studied in pointlike ensembles, this phenomenon persists in extended ordered systems if the inter-particle distance is below a certain bound. Here, we investigate Dicke superradiance in a realistic experimental setting using ordered arrays of alkaline-earth(-like) atoms, such as strontium and ytterbium. Such atoms offer exciting new opportunities for light-matter interactions as their internal structure allows for trapping at short interatomic distances compared to their long-wavelength transitions, providing the potential for collectively enhanced dissipative interactions. Despite their intricate electronic structure, we show that two-dimensional arrays of these atomic species should exhibit many-body superradiance for achievable lattice constants. Moreover, superradiance effectively ``closes'' transitions, such that multilevel atoms become more two-level like. This occurs because the avalanchelike decay funnels the emission of most photons into the dominant transition, overcoming the single-atom decay ratios dictated by their fine structure and Zeeman branching. Our work represents an important step in harnessing alkaline-earth atoms as quantum optical sources and as platforms to explore many-body dissipative dynamics.
Raphael Holzinger, Ricardo Gutierrez-Jauregui, Teresa Hönigl-Decrinis, Gerhard Kirchmair, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Helmut Ritsch
Sep 19, 2022·quant-ph·PDF Subradiant excited states in finite chains of two-level quantum emitters coupled to a one-dimensional reservoir are a resource for superior photon storage and controlled photon manipulation. Typically, states storing multiple excitations exhibit fermionic correlations and are thus characterized by an anti-symmetric wavefunction, which makes them hard to prepare experimentally. Here we identify a class of quasi-localized dark states with up to half of the qubits excited, which appear for lattice constants that are an integer multiple of the guided-mode wavelength. They allow for a high-fidelity preparation and minimally invasive read out in state-of-the-art setups. In particular, we suggest an experimental implementation using a coplanar wave-guide coupled to superconducting transmon qubits on a chip. As free space and intrinsic losses are minimal, virtually perfect dark states can be achieved even for a low number of qubits, enabling fast preparation and manipulation with high fidelity.
Erfan Abbasgholinejad, Daniel Malz, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Rahul Trivedi
Quantum optical systems comprising quantum emitters interacting with engineered optical modes generate non-classical states of light that can be used as resource states for quantum-enhanced interferometry. However, outside of well-controlled systems producing either single-mode states (e.g. Fock states or squeezed states) or highly symmetric multi-mode states (e.g. superradiant states), their potential for quantum advantage remains uncharacterized. In this work, we develop a framework to analyze quantum enhanced interferometry with general Markovian quantum light sources. First, we show how to compute the quantum Fisher Information (QFI) of the photons emitted by a source efficiently by just tracking its internal dynamics and without explicitly computing the state of the emitted photons. We then use this relationship to elucidate the connection between the level structure and spectrum of the source to a potential quantum advantage in interferometry. Finally, we analyze optimal measurement protocols that can be used to achieve this quantum advantage with experimentally available optical elements. In particular, we show that tunable optical elements with Kerr non-linearity can always be harnessed to implement the optimal measurement for any given source. Simultaneously, we also outline general conditions under which linear optics and photodetection is enough to implement the optimal measurement.
Kristian Knakkergaard Nielsen, Lukas Wangler, David Castells-Graells, J. Ignacio Cirac, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Daniel Malz, Cosimo C. Rusconi
Jan 28, 2026·quant-ph·PDF Subwavelength arrays of atoms trapped in optical lattices or tweezers are inherently susceptible to deformations: Optomechanical forces produce lattice distortions, which, in turn, modify the optical response of the array. We show that this coupling hybridizes collective atomic excitations (polaritons) with phonons, forming polaron-polaritons -- the fundamental quasiparticles governing light-matter interactions in arrays of trapped atoms. Using analytical polaron theory and numerical simulations, we show that: (1) phonons can strongly enhance the decay of subradiant states, but also enable their efficient excitation; (2) transport of dark excitations remains remarkably robust even at low trap frequencies, except when a polariton can resonantly scatter phonons; and (3) motion reduces the reflectivity of a two-dimensional atomic mirror, however, we identify mechanisms that mitigate this degradation and restore reflectivity above 99% in some cases. Our findings lay the foundation for analyzing motional effects in key applications and suggest new ways to harness them in state-of-the-art experiments.
Silvia Cardenas-Lopez, Stuart J. Masson, Zoe Zager, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
Sep 26, 2022·quant-ph·PDF The many-body decay of extended collections of two-level systems remains an open problem. Here, we investigate whether an array of emitters coupled to a one-dimensional bath undergoes Dicke superradiance. This is a process whereby a completely inverted system becomes correlated via dissipation, leading to the release of all the energy in the form of a rapid photon burst. We derive the minimal conditions for the burst to happen as a function of the number of emitters, the chirality of the waveguide, and the single-emitter optical depth, both for ordered and disordered ensembles. Many-body superradiance occurs because the initial fluctuation that triggers the emission is amplified throughout the decay process. In one-dimensional baths, this avalanchelike behavior leads to a spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking, with large shot-to-shot fluctuations in the number of photons emitted to the left and right. Superradiant bursts may thus be a smoking gun for the generation of correlated photon states of exotic quantum statistics.
Dianqiang Su, Yuan Jiang, Silvia Cardenas-Lopez, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Pablo Solano, Luis A. Orozco, Yanting Zhao
Apr 18, 2023·quant-ph·PDF We study temporal oscillations, known as dynamical beats, developed by a propagating pulse due to its interaction with a near-resonant collective medium of $^{133}$Cs atoms randomly captured by a nanofiber-based optical lattice. A phenomenological theory provides an intuitive explanation and quantitative predictions, which are improved by an input-output theory considering multiple-scattering between the atoms. The results deepen our understanding of light propagation in waveguide QED, essential in time-frequency analysis and light engineering for probing, manipulating, and exploiting many-body quantum systems.
Silvia Cardenas-Lopez, Pablo Solano, Luis A. Orozco, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
When a broadband signal propagates through a dispersive medium, some frequency components move faster than the center of the pulse. This leads to the appearance of precursors, transient signals that emerge from the medium earlier than the main part of the pulse and seem to propagate superluminally. Here, we investigate the microscopic origin of precursors in a minimal setup: an array of qubits coupled to a waveguide. The linear transmission function only converges to that of a continuous medium for large qubit numbers. Nevertheless, the dispersion produced by only two qubits is enough to produce oscillatory transients. Precursors are best observed under conditions of electromagnetically-induced transparency, as the center of the pulse is significantly delayed. Under these conditions, just a single qutrit is enough to generate a precursor. Our results pave the way towards dispersion engineering of light with just a few qubits, and can be realized with superconducting qubits coupled to transmission lines or atoms coupled to optical waveguides.
Wai-Keong Mok, Stuart J. Masson, Dan M. Stamper-Kurn, Tanya Zelevinsky, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
For a single particle, relaxation into different ground states is governed by fixed branching ratios determined by the transition matrix element and the environment. Here, we show that in many-body open quantum systems the occupation probability of one ground state can be boosted well beyond what is dictated by single-particle branching ratios. Despite the competition, interactions suppress all but the dominant decay transition, leading to a 'winner takes all' dynamic where the system primarily settles into the dominant ground state. We prove that, in the presence of permutation symmetry, this problem is exactly solvable for any number of competing channels. Additionally, we develop an approximate model for the dynamics by mapping the evolution onto a fluid continuity equation, and analytically demonstrate that the dominant transition ratio converges to unity as a power law with increasing system size, for any branching ratios. This near-deterministic preparation of the dominant ground state has broad applicability. As an example, we discuss a protocol for molecular photoassociation where collective dynamics effectively acts as a catalyst, amplifying the yield in a specific final state. Our results open new avenues for many-body strategies in the preparation and control of quantum systems.
Stuart J. Masson, Zhenjie Yan, Jacquelyn Ho, Yue-Hui Lu, Dan M. Stamper-Kurn, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
Dec 13, 2023·quant-ph·PDF Atoms are not two-level systems, and their rich internal structure often leads to complex phenomena in the presence of light. Here, we analyze off-resonant light scattering including the full hyperfine and magnetic structure. We find a set of frequency detunings where the induced atomic dipole is the same irrespective of the Zeeman state, and where two-photon transitions that alter the atomic state turn off. For alkali atoms and alkaline-earth ions, if the hyperfine splitting is dominated by the magnetic dipole moment contribution, these detunings approximately coincide. Therefore, at a given ``magical'' detuning, all Zeeman states in a hyperfine manifold behave almost identically, and can be traced out to good approximation. This feature prevents state decoherence due to light scattering, which impacts quantum optics experiments and quantum information applications.
Eric Sierra, Stuart J. Masson, Ana Asenjo-Garcia
Oct 15, 2021·quant-ph·PDF Dicke superradiance in ordered atomic arrays is a phenomenon where atomic synchronization gives rise to a burst in photon emission. This superradiant burst only occurs if there is one -- or just a few -- dominant decay channels. For a fixed atom number, this happens only below a critical interatomic distance. Here we show that array dimensionality is the determinant factor that drives superradiance. In 2D and 3D arrays, superradiance occurs due to constructive interference, which grows stronger with atom number. This leads to a critical distance that scales sublogarithmically with atom number in 2D, and as a power law in 3D. In 1D arrays, superradiance occurs due to destructive interference that effectively switches off certain decay channels, yielding a critical distance that saturates with atom number. Our results provide a guide to explore many-body decay in state-of-the art experimental setups.
Zhenjie Yan, Jacquelyn Ho, Yue-Hui Lu, Stuart J. Masson, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Dan M. Stamper-Kurn
Jul 25, 2023·quant-ph·PDF We realize collective enhancement and suppression of light scattered by an array of tweezer-trapped $^{87}$Rb atoms positioned within a strongly coupled Fabry-Pérot optical cavity. We illuminate the array with light directed transverse to the cavity axis, in the low saturation regime, and detect photons scattered into the cavity. For an array with integer-optical-wavelength spacing each atom scatters light into the cavity with nearly identical scattering amplitude, leading to an observed $N^2$ scaling of cavity photon number as the atom number increases stepwise from $N=1$ to $N=8$. By contrast, for an array with half-integer-wavelength spacing, destructive interference of scattering amplitudes yields a non-monotonic, sub-radiant cavity intensity versus $N$. By analyzing the polarization of light emitted from the cavity, we find that Rayleigh scattering can be collectively enhanced or suppressed with respect to Raman scattering. We observe also that atom-induced shifts and broadenings of the cavity resonance are precisely tuned by varying the atom number and positions. Altogether, tweezer arrays provide exquisite control of atomic cavity QED spanning from the single- to the many-body regime.